RSE

At Southfield we want all children to grow up healthy, happy, safe, and able to manage the challenges and opportunities of modern society. To facilitate this, all secondary age children will be taught Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSE).

These subjects are designed to equip our students with the knowledge to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships as well as preparing them for a successful adult life. The world for all young people looks very different from the way it did 20 years ago when this curriculum was last updated – these changes bring the content to the present, making it relevant for young people both now and in the future.

How will your child be taught?

As part of the school’s Personal, Social and Health Education programme, your child will soon receive a unit of lessons on relationships, sexual health and personal safety (RSE) through our Healthy Living lessons and tutor time.

The purpose of the RSE unit is to provide knowledge and understanding of safe and healthy relationships based on love and respect. This is to encourage the eventual development of safe and healthy relationships in later life. The unit will develop understanding and attitudes which will help students to form relationships in a responsible and healthy manner and to appreciate the value of stable family life, including the responsibilities of parenthood and marriage.

Throughout their time at Southfield, our students will have been taught content on:

Families
Being safe
Respectful relationships, including friendships
Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health
Online media
Changing adolescent body

The important lessons you teach your child about healthy relationships, looking after themselves and staying safe, are respected and valued under this new curriculum. Teaching at Southfield School will complement and reinforce the lessons you teach your child as they grow up.

At Southfield we aim to build positive relationship with parents/carers on these subjects over time – for example by inviting parents into school to discuss what will be taught, address any concerns and help support parents in managing conversations with their children on these issues. This can be an important opportunity to talk about how these subjects contribute to wider support in terms of students wellbeing and keeping children safe.

Year 7 RSE Curriculum

As you will be aware the statutory guidance has changed for September 2026, therefore there will be more changes ahead of this time.

Introduction to secondary school (Year 7 transition lesson)
Introduction to PSHE Lesson (introduces PSHE as a subject).

Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships (RSE)
What do we mean by a healthy lifestyle? Health introduction.	Being an aspirational student	Keeping good friendships and avoiding toxic ones.
How can I keep healthy? Food groups, diet and nutrition.	The importance of self esteem	Family relationships – the different types and why we don’t always get along.
Eating responsibly – Food labels and health hazards.	How can we budget our money?	Love and relationships – falling in love and dealing with new feelings.
Healthy Living – exercise and keeping active.	How can I create a personal budgeting plan?	Bullying or banter? Why do people bully others and how can we help stop this?
Not eating healthily - what are the consequences?	What are savings, loans and interest?	What is cyberbullying? Why do people bully online?
What’s the big deal about energy drinks?	What are the different types of financial transactions?	How do we keep safe and positive relationships (on and off-line)?
The dangers of cigarettes and alcohol	What are the different types of financial products?	What is my personal identity and why is diversity important?
Puberty – what happens, when and why.	How can we shop ethically?	Extremism – why does radicalisation happen and how does it challenge our values?
Periods – what happens, when and why.	What are wants and needs and why do we need to know the difference?
FGM – what is this and why is it so dangerous?	How can we enjoy social media but keep our accounts safe and private?
Introduction to mental health issues – depression focus.	What is stereotyping and prejudice? Racism focus.
What are drugs? Why are they dangerous? (class A, B and C)	How can we be resilient and face challenges?

Year 8 RSE Curriculum

As you will be aware the statutory guidance has changed for September 2026, therefore there will be more changes ahead of this time.

Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships (RSE)
Personal development and target setting – how can I improve my skills and behaviour?	Internet Safety – what is online grooming and why must we be so careful?	How do we have safe sex and use different forms of contraception?
How can self-confidence boost our achievement?	How can we care for our environment and why is it changing?	How do we keep good sexual health and avoid STIs?
How can I manage my behaviour to achieve targets and goals?	Careers + development focus - how can we develop our communication skills?	What is consent and why is it important we know about it?
Why do teenage parents have it so tough?	Careers + development focus - how can we develop our teamwork skills?	What is sexting and why is it so risky to send personal images?
How we can avoid teenage pregnancy?	How can we become entrepreneurs?	What is pornography and why can it be dangerous?
Stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice. Disability focus	LGBT+ focus: Homophobia	How can we prevent radicalisation and recognise the signs of extremism?
How can we look after ourselves and others in an emergency? Personal safety and first aid.	Finance – what is income and expenditure?	Who are the extremist groups and why are they so dangerous?
What is vaping and is this as bad as smoking?	Finance – budgeting and saving personal finances	Where does extremism come from?
What is mindfulness? How can this aid positive mental health?	Careers + Finance - What are national insurance and income tax? Reading payslips	How do religious extremists attract converts?
Emotional literacy – why is self-awareness in our actions towards others so important?	Why do we pay tax and how is this spent?	Islamophobia – do Muslims really want Sharia Law in Britain?
Cancer Awareness	Stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice. Teens and the media focus.	Stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice. Religion focus.
	Stereotypes, discrimination and disability.	How can British Values teach us tolerance and respect for others?
		Domestic conflict – why do people run away from home and why is this so dangerous?
		Body image and the media part 1 with a focus on boys.

Year 9 RSE Curriculum

As you will be aware the statutory guidance has changed for September 2026, therefore there will be more changes ahead of this time.

Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships (RSE)
Why do we need to keep to rules in order to succeed?	How does knife crime impact on our communities, why do teens get involved and what are the consequences?	Who are the LGBT+ community and what would they like us to know?
How can we foster a Growth Mindset to succeed and achieve?	How does the law deal with young offenders?	Why are British communities so diverse? Immigration and diversity focus.
How can I develop interpersonal skills to help me succeed?	How can we be self-disciplined to achieve our aims at school and in the wider world?	What are domestic violence and abusive relationships?
How can we manage the stress of school and exams?	Employability Skills – preparing for and applying to the world of work and careers	Healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Why do people take illegal drugs and what does the law say about drug use?	What other skills do we need to develop for the work environment?	CSE – how are children and young people lured into dangerous relationships and what do these look like?
Why do people become selfie obsessed and consequences can this have?	What does it mean to be ‘enterprising’ and what is an ‘enterprising personality?’	Body image and the media 2 – focus on girls
What are the short and long-term consequences of excess alcohol drinking?	What is sustainability and why is this essential to our environment?	Body image and the media 3 – does the media contribute to eating disorders?
What is self-harm and why do people do this?	Navigating accounts, savings loans and financial institutions.	Can we respect and celebrate British values and the religion and culture of our choice?
Why can’t some people access education?	What rights do we have as shoppers and consumers?	What is peer-pressure – why is it so powerful and how can we overcome this?
How are we protected from prejudice and discrimination?	How can I stay financially savvy and avoid debt?
Mental health – how can I deal with and manage anxiety?	What can we learn from successful business people and entrepreneurs.
Acid attacks – why are these on the increase and what can we do if we witness one?	Should we sent aid to foreign countries – is aid the answer?
Responsible health choices – blood donation, stem cells, vaccinations	How can extreme views lead to human rights abuses and atrocities?
	How do charities like UNICEF help across the world?

Year 10 RSE Curriculum

As you will be aware the statutory guidance has changed for September 2026, therefore there will be more changes ahead of this time.

Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships (RSE)
How can we manage our time effectively to help us succeed?	What is Fake News and why do we need critical thinking skills?	Same sex relationships (LGBT+)
Can tattoos and piercings be dangerous?	What is anti-social behaviour and how does this affect communities?	What are forced and arranged marriages and what do we need to know?
Why do some people commit suicide?	How can we successfully prepare for work experience?	Gender and Trans Identity (LGBT+)
How can we manage grief and bereavement?	What rights and responsibilities do we have in the workplace?	How can we manage conflict successfully?
How can we manage social anxiety?	What is money laundering and why are some students taken in by this crime?	Why do sexism, gender prejudice and stereotypes still exist?
Why do some people become homeless and why is homelessness on the increase?	What are employers looking for in CVs?	What is community cohesion and why is this important? (British Values)
What are hate crimes and why do these still happen?	British Values – how does the criminal justice system work?	Revenge Porn – what is this and how can we prevent ourselves from being victims?
What is binge drinking, what are the risks and why do people still do it?	What is overt and covert racism and why are people still prejudiced?	Do we have healthy or unhealthy relationships with our role models?
Study Skills – the power of mind and memory.	Why do some religious people become terrorists?	Harassment and stalking – what are these things and what does the law say about it?
Social Media and Self-Esteem	Why pursue a careers in the STEM industries?	Parenting, the different types and styles and looking after a child.
Internet Safety – the dangers of excessive screen time	How do we choose a career that suits our personality, ambition and qualifications?
How can we take steps to live more sustainably? (carbon footprint)	Crime, gangs and County Lines
	Why do we still need an International Women’s Day?

Year 11 RSE Curriculum

As you will be aware the statutory guidance has changed for September 2026, therefore there will be more changes ahead of this time.

Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships (RSE)
Why is PSHE so important?	GCSE Revision and Study Skills	Bullying – Body Shaming
Risk Taking	Applying to College and University	Relationship Break Ups
Gambling and Online Gaming	Independent Living	What is ‘Good Sex’?
Perseverance and Procrastination	Internet Safety – the Dark Web	Why is it essential we know about consent, rape and sexual abuse?
Privilege – How does this affect us all?	How is plastic pollution destroying our environment?	How can we make ourselves and other people feel more positive and why is happiness important?
Why do we need sleep and how does sleep deprivation affect us?	How can we protect animal rights and aid sustainability?	Relationship types and sexuality
Why is our digital footprint important?	How can trade unions protect our rights at work?	What is Chem Sex and what do we mean when we talk about safe sex?
How can we celebrate diversity and our identities?	What is cyber crime?
What is body positivity and is why is this controversial? (Obesity issues)	How can we successfully prepare for a job interview?
Personal Safety in the Wider World	Globalisation – how does this affect us?
Fertility and reproductive health issues	What is multiculturalism?
	What is right-wing extremism?
	Why is Health and Safety at work so important?

RSE Frequently Asked Questions

We have tried to consider the questions and concerns that you as a parent/carer are most likely to encounter when considering the new RSE curriculum and have prepared the following answers. If you have any further questions regarding relationship and sex education, please contact the school or complete our consultation survey, available on the school website.

1. My child will be taught sexually explicit language and shown pornographic images at far too young an age.

Pupils should have a common language in the formal classroom to describe genitals, not the colloquialisms often used, but the precise, scientific terms, free of embarrassment. This helps to safeguard students as it enables staff to teach using common understanding of the terms and areas of the body being referred to. This in turn enable students to gain understanding about safe and unsafe forms of touching and that certain parts of our body are private. This empowers pupils to explain unambiguously to a trusted adult if someone is touching them inappropriately.

The diagrams used in schools to teach sex education lessons, or lessons about the naming of body parts are never intended to stimulate sexual excitement but rather to teach pupils about their bodies and which parts are private. Real photographs are never used, but rather diagrams and factual terms.

2. My child is going to be in a lesson where gay relationships are being actively promoted.

As with all school provision, RSE lessons must be delivered in line with the requirements of the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equality Duty. Our schools’ values, in line with British values, espouse mutual tolerance and respect, promoting good relations between people of different protected characteristics, including sexual orientation. ‘Families can include, for example, single parent families, LGBT parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers, amongst other structures.’ (DfE guidance). Removing all stigmatisation of children who come from different home circumstances is vitally important, and this is a key theme within the new curriculum.

3. My young child will be forced to attend sex education lessons in class and there is nothing I can do about that.

If parents/carers do not want their child to take part in some or all of the Sex Education lessons delivered at secondary level, they can request that they are withdrawn. The head teacher will consider this request, discuss it with them and will grant permission in all but exceptional circumstances, up until three school terms before the child turns 16. At this age, children can choose to receive Sex Education, if they would like to, and the school should arrange for the child to receive this teaching in one of those three terms (unless there are exceptional circumstances). Parents/carers are encouraged to discuss their decisions with staff at the earliest opportunity.

The school’s content and delivery of all parts of the RSE curriculum is designed to meet the needs of pupils at their age and stage in development. If a pupil is removed from sex education, there is always the risk that they may seek information from elsewhere, perhaps from friends or the internet, and that this advice may be incomplete or even misleading.

4. What is being taught to my child goes against my faith and the faith of my family.

Every school is advised to deliver the RSE content in a balanced and non-judgemental way, and in line with the school’s values, which include tolerance and mutual respect of other people’s beliefs, reflecting British values. The statutory guidance is clear: ‘The religious background of all pupils must be taken into account when planning teaching, so that topics are appropriately handled.’

5. Southfield is a girl’s school. My child is doesn’t need to know about boy’s puberty.

The DfE guidance states that teaching about puberty and menstruation should be covered and that ‘male and female pupils are prepared for changes they and their peers will experience.’ We believe it will help our students understand boys if they decide to enter a relationship and also understand changes to siblings at home.